1. Field of Invention
The concept of the “Calf Enhancer” is that of an exercise and rehabilitation device that is specifically designed to effectively isolate, tone, build or rehabilitate the anterior and posterior muscles of the lower extremity in a fashion which can be easily accomplished at home or where ever desired, without the need for weights or bulky stationary equipment.
2. Description of Prior Art
Studies have shown that muscles of the lower extremity, particularly the calf and shin muscles are not only among the hardest muscles to develop in the body but also among the most important as well as the most neglected. Although these muscles play a major part in our every day lives whether you are athletic or not, they are often taken for granted until injured. For example, if your calf muscles are too tight; they can't take sudden stress; as a result they strain or tear causing you real grief.
Injuries to the lower extremity are either tears of the juncture between the medial half of the calf muscle (the inner part, technically called the Gastrocnemius); Shin splints which is a painful condition that affects the Tibialis Anterior muscle of the shin and is often the result of weak shin muscles in relation to the calf muscles or a strain or rupture of the Achilles' tendon. In most cases, the aforementioned is caused by poor calf muscle flexibility due to the lack of stretching.
Injuries such as those describe above are very serious, especially those involving the Achilles tendon which more than often require surgery. These injuries can be prevented in a relatively easy fashion. You simply must keep the muscles of your lower extremity stretched, flexible and strengthen at all times with the aid of some type of calf machine or low impact workout that targets the areas in question.
Today's calf machines are bulky, weighty, stationary equipment designed for in-house use in the gyms and fitness centers only. They also require a considerable amount of weight to be somewhat effective.
Originally, in order to work the calf muscles you had to place a weight bar on your shoulders with the desired weight on each side and raise up on your toes either from a flat surface or place a board, preferably a 2.times.4 or any thing flat, stable and about three to five inches thick under the ball of your foot to allow a broader range of motion to work the calves some what effectively. The problem with this method is that not only do you have to focus on the exercise itself, but you have to focus on balancing the weight while you rise up on your toes which take away from the main focus, your calves.
Although this method is still widely used today, there have been several machines invented specifically for the calves. While the method of adding resistance is relatively different, the actual exercise and objective remains the same. There are two basic types of calf machines: the standing calf raise and the seated calf raise.
The standing calf raise is basically the same as using a straight bar on your shoulders with weights on either side but with out the worry of trying to balance the weight and lift at the same time. The standing calf machines regardless of the brand are very bulky and heavy machines, often weighing a minimum of 500 pounds and are very expensive. The standing calf machines are none portable and are designed specifically for the gyms and fitness centers which make them convenient only at the facilities that are housing them.
The deficiencies surrounding these machines are all the same: the standing calf raise, though relatively effective doesn't eliminate the tendency to bounce the weight when fatigue sits in which in terms is very ineffective in working the calves. In addition to bouncing, the standing calf machines allows you the option of bending the knees, and in essence promote cheating on the press; that's when you do not raise all the way up on your toes to fully contract the calf muscles or cheating on the decline; that's when you do not go down far enough to extend and or stretch the calf muscles and the Achilles' tendon which as a result is very ineffective in working the calves and can be the catalyst for future injuries. Although it is possible for you to work the calves individually, the standing calf machines are designed to work both of the calves simultaneously which makes it some what uncomfortable, and puts a bit of a strain on the lower back and spine when done individually. The seated calf machines though extremely different in design from the standing calf machines are very effective when used properly. They allow one to ingeniously be in a seated position while working the calves. Compared to the standing calf machines, the seated calf machines are relatively small, taking up half the space of the standing calf machines and weigh a lot less, around 50 to 70 pounds without weights. The cost though roughly half of that of the standing calf machines is still relatively expensive.
Though extremely more practicable than the standing calf machines, the seated calf machines are not designed to be portable thereby limiting the availability only to the facility housing the machine. Also the seated calf machines require external weights which take up more space and add to its impracticability.
Although this design eliminates the added stress put on the back and shoulders caused by the standing calf machines, they too failed to eliminate the tendency to bounce the weight when fatigue. While the seated calf machines succeeded in eliminating the option of bending the knees, they failed in eliminating the option to cheat on the press; that's when you do not raise all the way up on your toes to fully contract the calf muscles or cheating on the decline; that's when you do not go down far enough to extend or stretch the calf muscles and the Achilles' tendon which as a result is very ineffective in working the calves and also like the standing calf machines can be the catalyst for future injuries.
There is no doubt that the prior arts give the calves a relative good work out but a relatively good work out is not good enough. The key to developing the various muscles of the lower extremity not limited to the calf muscles is isolation; something that the prior arts failed to explore and adopt. The muscles of the lower extremity are designed to work as a team and as long as they are working together, you are more than likely to tire before the muscles of the lower extremity. To achieve the optimal results, one must essentially isolate the muscles of the lower extremity from working as a team therefore forcing them to work independently rather the dependently and as a result, the muscles are forced to work harder.
Lastly, as mentioned earlier, the Achilles' tendon and the muscles of the shin more so than the calves go relatively unnoticed until an injury occurs. Although the seated calf machine by default is capable of providing an adequate stretch of the Achilles tendon, neither prior art has the capability or functionality to strengthen, stretch or build muscle mass in the muscles surrounding the shin. In addition, the prior arts are very impracticable, inconvenient and are absent of any functionality as it pertains to rehabilitating an injury to the lower extremity for various reasons most of which are mentioned above.